Shannon Town returned to the Premier Division on Sunday in the perfect fashion by getting a win courtesy of an Andy Russell goal.
Tulla Utd A 0
Shannon Town A 1
Venue: The Cragg, Tulla
Tulla suffered an early blow with losing Mark Mitchell to injury after a foul on the edge of the box inside the first minute. Georoid O’Doherty went close from the resultant free kick with a shot that narrowly missed the target. Shannon Town went in front with their first attack on three minutes when Colin Scanlon put Andrew Russell through on goal and he made no mistake as Tulla keeper Kevin Barron advanced off his line.
They had a good chance to draw level on seven minutes when Sebastio Da Silva put Niall Whelan through on goal but his well struck effort was brilliantly saved by Paudie Hickey. Shannon Town had a great chance to stretch their lead on twenty four minutes when Kieran Hackett got through on goal but he was denied by a great save from Barron. They kept the pressure on for the rest of the half with Josh Lindsay and Scanlon both going close before the half time whistle.
The hosts had the better of the second half and put Shannon Town under a lot of pressure. Tom Vaughan went close with two shots for the East Clare side but had no luck with either attempt. Shannon Town nearly wrapped up the contest on 87 minutes with a good run and shot from Rob Wall that was well saved by Barron. Tulla kept trying to the end but could not find an equalizer as Shannon Town defended well as a team to the final whistle to earn an important three points on their return to the Clare Premier Division.
Shannon Town A: Paudie Hickey, Josh Lindsay, Chris Lake, Darren Griffin, Bryan O’Donoghue, Jamie Cullen, Andrew Russell, Evan Glynn, Colin Scanlon, Rob Wall, Kieran Hackett. Subs: Evan Barry for Scanlon, Jack Kelly for Russell, Sean Burke for Hackett, John Allen for Lindsay.
Tulla Utd A: Kevin Barron, Paraic Vaughan, Gearoid O’Doherty, Denis Murphy, Daragh Corry, Colin Nelson, Mark Mitchell, Eoin Whelan, Niall Whelan, Sebastio Da Silva, Trevor Corbett. Subs: Hugh McDaid for Corbett, Tom Vaughan for Mitchell (inj), Darragh O’Sullivan for Vaughan
Referee: Mark Rellis
